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Italian Paintings 1250-1450

To the left the Virgin kneels in adoration of the baby Christ, and to the right Joseph sits, resting his head on his hand. A shepherd looks on from a rocky crag to the left. Bernhard Berenson (1913, p. 74) suggested that this figure was a portrait of a Camaldolese monk, but the shepherd's pink robe discounts this, as a monk of that order would have been dressed in white. The rays of celestial light coming from the two angels, gold star, and baby contrast with the darkness of the night.

For further comments see Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection cat. 127 Predella panel of an altarpiece: Flight into Egypt Carl Brandon Strehlke, from Italian paintings, 1250-1450, in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2004, pp. 384-389.

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